My Favorite Changes to My Living and Work Space

One of the things that I love to paint are my odd assortment of Blue and White dishes. Affording a regular china cabinet was completely out of the question  but my Husband came up with an excellent alternative that I just Love. Best of all the lighting is completely adjustable.

The centerpiece of the unit is a simple and inexpensive PLASTIC medicine cabinet.

The other 2 cabinets were MDF flat pack kits which he assembled in just a couple of hours. They were on sale though a local home improvement store.

The real magic comes from strips of color changing LED lights installed along the sheves and the tops of the units which run by remote control.

Budget Birthday Party

Don't overlook discount and dollar stores in your party planning. I was able to do this entire thing including party favors, food, decorations and beverages for under thirty dollars and I had a great time with it.

I wasn't able to find a tablecloth to match so I used a big banner which only cost one dollar. I trimmed it to fit the table and then cut the leftover bits of it into streamers and bows for the balloons. That's what I call "a lot of bang for the buck".

We were all quite pleased with the results.

Some of the party favors included balloons, stickers, bubble blowers and poppers with streamers.

I kept the menu easy and mobile with choices for dieters as well as anyone else.

Coffee or tea

carrot sticks
celery sticks
beef sticks
cheese sticks
individual shrimp cocktails in shot glasses
Breaded/battered green beans, clam strips and mushrooms
Assorted cookies

Yes, a good time was had by all.

Art blooms in my garden

One of the really great things about this project is that I found these metal flowers at the Dollar store. This one was all blue before I had a little fun with it.

When I finish the leaves I look forward to putting this out next to my arbor at the front entrance to my garden.

I'll add photos of it out in the yard as soon as everything dries and I can put it in place.

This is as good as it gets for now but as in any garden it's always changing in bright and different ways, growing and changing like the artist and gardener behind it.